Providence immunologist honored at leading cancer conference

December 12, 2022

Earle A. Chiles Research Institute

Researchers from Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, a division of Providence Cancer Institute of Oregon, joined a global community of scientists for the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC22) held November 8-12 in Boston. The event is considered the leading conference for cancer immunotherapy and tumor immunology professionals and featured recent advances in cancer treatments and cutting-edge clinical trials research presented by experts in the field.

Bernard Fox, Ph.D., recognized for legacy of public service

As part of the SITC22 annual awards ceremony, a special honor was given to Bernard A. Fox, Ph.D., leader of the Laboratory of Molecular and Tumor Immunology and Harder Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. Dr. Fox accepted the 2022 SITC Tara Withington Public Service Award which is bestowed annually upon an individual who fosters and enhances the field of cancer immunotherapy through increasing public understanding, awareness and research efforts.

Throughout his career, Dr. Fox has been steadfast in advancing innovative basic science research with the goal of rapid therapeutic development for people with cancer. He is also a strong advocate for training the next generation of immuno-oncology scientists and physicians.

“One of my passions has been to bridge the tumor immunology/cancer immunotherapy community across geographic and political barriers, to improve communication and scientific exchange, augment educational opportunities, and overcome hurdles to the translation of novel science into trials for patients with cancer,” said Dr. Fox.

With this aim, he led the formation of the World Immunotherapy Council to bring together scientists and fellows from across the world to advance scientific knowledge and collaboration. The council is chaired by Dr. Fox and comprises more than two dozen professional societies.

A sought-after lecturer and advisor, he has held faculty and committee positions at universities and philanthropic organizations across the U.S., Europe and Asia, including the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

In his longtime service to SITC, Dr. Fox has served as a SITC President, Past President and Ambassador and received the 2015 Visionary/Legacy Award and 2020 Team Science Award. In 2020, he was honored with the Onlus Bridge Award by the Melanoma Foundation for outstanding and lifelong contributions to melanoma research.

“Bernie’s passion and steadfast commitment to advancing immunotherapy has been transformational to the field and, directly and indirectly, touched the lives of countless patients with cancer,” said R. Bryan Bell, M.D., D.D.S., FACS, physician executive, Providence Cancer Institute. “We are very fortunate to have him on our #FinishCancer team.”

Providence researchers present latest immunotherapy findings

Educational forums are another hallmark of the annual conference, where researchers share and learn about the latest discoveries and advancements in the field.

Scientists, physicians and other team members at Earle A. Chiles Research Institute contributed to a total of 19 abstracts selected for presentation at SITC22, listed below by abstract categories with links to full text.

Note: If you are experiencing any issues viewing an abstract, click here to search for the pdf version.

Biomarkers, Immune Monitoring and Novel Technologies

Abstract 5: Development of a vaccine to intercept oral cancer (full text)

Abstract 8: Universal LCMS-based assay platform, refmAb-Q nSMOL, for monitoring monoclonal antibody therapeutics using one reference antibody (full text)

Abstract 113: Uncovering the dark immunopeptidome of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: relevance for universal cancer vaccines, immunological monitoring and TIL therapy (full text)

Cell Therapies

Abstract 409: Manufacturing of a clinical scale CD8 TIL product, AGX148, with and without gene silencing of PD-1 using self-delivering RNAi INTASYLTM PH-762 (full text)

Clinical Trials in Progress

Abstract 646: Neoadjuvant immunotherapy combining maveropepimut-S with letrozole decreases Ki67 and increases Th1 immune response in hormone receptor positive early-stage breast cancer. (full text)

Abstract 647: Phase I studies of AgenT-797, a novel allogeneic invariant natural killer T cell therapy, for the treatment of patients with solid tumors or multiple myeloma (full text)

Abstract 778: Botensilimab, a novel innate/adaptive immune activator, plus or minus balstilimab (anti-PD-1) in “cold” and I-O refractory metastatic solid tumors (full text)

Abstract 731: First-in-human trial of an integrin beta-6 targeted antibody-drug conjugate, SGN-B6A, in patients with advanced solid tumors: interim results of a phase 1 study (full text)

Abstract 677: Phase 2, open-label, multicenter study of INCAGN01876 (anti-GITR agonist) in combination with retifanlimab (anti–PD-1) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (full text)

Abstract 772: Phase 1/2 dose escalation/expansion study evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and antitumor activity of E-602, a bi-sialidase fusion protein, in advanced cancer (GLIMMER-01) (full text)

Clinical Trials Completed

Abstract 549: Booster vaccination of a HER2 helper T-cell vaccine increased HER2 immunity in metastatic HER2 positive breast cancer (full text)

Abstract 546: Phase I dose escalation study of STEMVAC, a multi-antigen, multi-epitope Th1 selective plasmid-based vaccine, targeting stem cell associated proteins in patients with advanced breast cancer (full text)

Abstract 596: Results from a phase 1 study of CDX-1140, a fully human anti-CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody, in combination with pembrolizumab (full text)

Combination Immunotherapies

Abstract 803: Enhancement of anti-tumor efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade by alpha-tocopheryloxacetic acid-lysine (full text)

Immune Cell Types and Biology

Abstract 940: siRNA screen of upregulated genes identifies targets for a multiantigen polyepitope vaccine to prevent HNSCC (full text)

Abstract 959: PD-1 and ICOS co-expression identifies tumor-reactive CD4 T cells in human solid tumors (full text)

Abstract 997: T cell immunotherapies trigger neutrophils to eliminates heterogenous tumors (full text)

Immune-Stimulants and Immune Modulators

Abstract 1171: CAN1012: a selective and potent TLR7 agonist with strong antitumoral properties mediated by localized innate immune activation (full text)

Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Computational Modeling

Abstract 1296: Radiomics-based multi-modal prediction of treatment response to PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in stage IV non-small cell lung carcinoma (full text)

All abstracts from SITC22 are available online. You can also view the complete digital program and session descriptions.

Providence center of excellence for precision immuno-oncology and cellular therapy

Since 1993, cancer research has been the primary focus of the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, the research arm of Providence Cancer Institute of Oregon. Under the leadership of Walter J. Urba, M.D., Ph.D., our team of physicians and scientists work together to improve cancer treatment methods – seamlessly joining lab research and clinical trials with patient care.

Our main area of research is cancer immunotherapy, and with the advancements in genomic sequencing we bring together the power of immunotherapy and personalized medicine to accelerate leading-edge research and groundbreaking discoveries for patients with cancer.

To learn more about the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute: